The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have posted their best loss of the season Sunday.
The Bucs entered the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead over the New Orleans Saints but allowed 16 unanswered points to lose 23-20 and finish with a 2-14 record. That’s the “bad news.” The good news is that the defeat ensured the Bucs will own the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
The Tennessee Titans also ended the season at 2-14, but Tampa Bay will have the No. 1 pick because it had a weaker strength of schedule. The Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 3), Oakland Raiders (No. 4) and Washington Redskins (No. 5) round out the top five, and the New York Jets “fell” to No. 6 after winning two of their last three games.
There are plenty of enticing skill players in this year’s draft class. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s Jameis Winston — winners of the last two Heisman Trophy awards — are the headliners, but 2014 Heisman finalists Melvin Gordon and Amari Cooper also aren’t expected to last long on draft boards.
The order of playoff-eligible teams obviously will change based on how the postseason unfolds, but the order is set for the 20 teams whose seasons already are over.
Check out the full first-round draft order below.
2015 NFL DRAFT ORDER
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2. Tennessee Titans
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Oakland Raiders
5. Washington Redskins
6. New York Jets
7. Chicago Bears
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. New York Giants
10. St. Louis Rams
11. Minnesota Vikings
12. Cleveland Browns
13. New Orleans Saints
14. Miami Dolphins
15. San Francisco 49ers
16. Houston Texans
17. Kansas City Chiefs
18. San Diego Chargers
19. Cleveland Browns (via Buffalo)
20. Philadelphia Eagles
*21. Carolina Panthers
*22. Baltimore Ravens
*23. Pittsburgh Steelers
*24. Detroit Lions
*25. Arizona Cardinals
*26. Indianapolis Colts
*27. Cincinnati Bengals
*28. Green Bay Packers
*29. Dallas Cowboys
*30. Denver Broncos
*31. Seattle Seahawks
*32. New England Patriots
*Subject to change based on postseason results
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
